In Secret Letter, Tough
By Glenn Kessler
September 3, 2008
The
The correspondence, which also
appears to contradict statements by Indian officials, was made public yesterday
by Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, just days before the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group meets again
in Vienna to consider exempting India from restrictions on nuclear trade as
part of a landmark U.S.-India civil nuclear deal.
The NSG, which governs trade in
reactors and uranium, poses a key hurdle for the U.S-India pact. The group
operates by consensus, allowing even small nations to block or significantly
amend any agreement. The
A significant group of nations
balked at the proposal when the NSG first discussed it two weeks ago. Berman's
release of the correspondence could make approval even more difficult because
it demonstrates that U.S. conditions for nuclear trade with India are tougher
than what the United States is requesting from the NSG on India's behalf.
About 20 nations offered more than
50 amendments to the U.S.-proposed draft text, focusing on terminating trade if
The correspondence released by
Berman is "going to reinforce the views of many states," said Daryl
G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, which opposes
the U.S.-India agreement. "There is no reason why this should not be an
NSG-wide policy."
The correspondence concerned 45 highly technical questions that members
of Congress posed about the deal. In 2006, Congress passed a law, known as the
Hyde Act, to provisionally accept the agreement. But some lawmakers raised
concerns about whether a separate implementing agreement negotiated by the
administration papered over critical details to assuage Indian concerns. The questions were addressed in a 26-page
letter sent to Berman's predecessor, the late Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), on
Jan. 16.
The answers were considered so
sensitive, particularly because debate over the agreement in
Lynne Weil, a spokeswoman for
Berman, said he made the answers public yesterday because, if NSG approval is
granted, the U.S-India deal soon would be submitted to Congress for final
approval and "he wants to assure that Congress has the relevant
information."
In
The State Department's letter to
Lantos gives a different story. It says the
The letter makes clear that
terminating cooperation could be immediate and was within U.S. discretion, and
that the supply assurances made by the United States are not legally binding
but simply a commitment made by President Bush.
The letter also stated that the
"
The administration is eager for NSG
approval this week because there is a narrow window for final congressional
action before lawmakers adjourn this month, although many of them say the
prospects for quick action remain dim.
Reflecting the importance of the
U.S.-India deal to Bush's foreign policy legacy, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice is dispatching two top officials -- William J. Burns, undersecretary of
state for political affairs, and John Rood, acting undersecretary of state for
arms control and international security -- to the NSG session.
Concerns about the deal have been
raised by a group of mostly smaller states, led by